In biology, procreation is the act by which organisms reproduce. A more detailed treatment of reproduction in general is in that article.

In some systems of ethics, sexual intercourse with procreative intent is often treated differently from intercourse absent procreative intent (in other words, intercourse in which birth control is practiced). The Catholic Church, for instance, proscribes intercourse without procreative intent in which artifical birth control is employed (see Humanae Vitae). Individuals with explicit procreative intent will often both abstain from birth control and employ other means to increase the chance of conception, for instance, assuming a missionary position for intercourse and a lithotomy position post-intercourse. (The efficiacy of these methods is not particularly well documented.) In colloquial English, the slang term "babymaking" may apply to these practices.